


Boxes, Banter, and Ball Gags

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Humor, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-08-08 11:31:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7756108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“See I have a graduate and law degree and you have….hmm…something is missing on your wall now that I think about it.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Boxes, Banter, and Ball Gags

“Hello there.”

“Hey.” Rafael looked up from a box he was rummaging through. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

“Clearly.” Trevor smiled. “Usually you're at the door with my cocktail and kiss. Those were the good old days.”

“Cute.”

“What are you doing in here?” Trevor leaned on the door frame of the study. Rafael was sitting on the floor, he was going through boxes. Most of the boxes belonged to Trevor, he didn’t mind his fiancé rummaging.

“I'm just trying to figure out what everything is. One of these days we’re going to have to get all of this together.”

“Not one day, the week after next as a matter of fact. James and Lindsey are coming on Sunday. I really don’t think it should take more than a day or so to make our final decisions. Then we’ll check into a nice hotel and when we come back, it'll all be done for us.”

“How much is all of this going to cost?” Rafael asked.

“Money is a problem now?” Trevor countered, raising an eyebrow.

“Not exactly, but…”

“Babe, you give our dog Fiji water.”

“First of all, you made me change it to Deer Park. Second, Blanche has a delicate constitution. It’s not the same as interior decorating.”

“We can afford this.” Trevor said. “It’s much cheaper than getting a new condo and then decorating it. I've budgeted it with the money from my condo sale. We’re fine.”

“You're sure?”

“Yes.” He nodded. “Are you alright?”

“We’re just spending a lot of money right now. The redecoration, the wedding, the honeymoon…I know these are good expenses but I think about it sometimes. I don’t want to say I worry about it sometimes, but I worry about it sometimes.”

“You don’t have to.”

“OK.” Rafael nodded. He put the lid back on one box and started going through another. It was Trevor’s books. Bookshelves were definitely going to be a big part of the redecoration. “I've never made the most of this study. I think we should definitely look into making it a lounge. We can have guests over and have this be a relaxing place to be. That way there won’t be too much trampling through the living room. The half bath is right across the hall. We could get a bar, some disco lights…”

“We’re not getting disco lights.” Trevor said.

“Well, mood lighting then. You know what I mean. We should talk to James and Lindsey about it.”

“I like that idea. Are you hungry; have you thought about dinner?”

“I am hungry.” Rafael said. “What are you thinking about?”

“Lorenzo’s. They have BYOB and we have a bottle of merlot in the wine rack just waiting for some attention.”

“Pizza, pasta; my hips are spreading as we speak.” Rafael stood from the floor, wiped the nonexistent dust off himself.

“Don’t worry love, we’ll take care of that too.”

“Is that sexual innuendo?” he stepped over the boxes and walked to the doorway.

“I've never felt the need for innuendo.” Trevor shook his head. “C'mere, I want my hello kiss.”

“Hi.” Rafael caressed Trevor’s face and indulged in the sweetest kisses. “I'm glad you're home.”

“Me too.”

“Did you have a good day?”

“I had a long day.” Trevor rolled his eyes.

“Well I'm going to change my shirt and we can forget all about it. Do you want to change clothes?”

Trevor decided it was better to just take off his suit jacket and tie. He was going to roll his sleeves up and go for the ‘just got home from work’ relaxed look. As Rafael went into the bedroom, he got out of his oxfords and grabbed a pair of black Chuck Taylors from the hall closet. Trevor took a couple of deep breaths and did a head to toe stretch. 

It had been a long day, he was glad it was over. Some good Italian was calling his name his name right now. A smile crossed his face just thinking about it. That smile grew when Rafael ran in and wrapped his arms around Trevor from behind.

“I love you.” He mumbled, face buried in Trevor’s back.

“I love you too.”

“Forever and ever?”

“Amen.” Trevor smiled. He turned around and kissed Rafael. “Let's get that red wine and have some dinner.”

That sounded like a plan to Rafael. He went into the kitchen, grabbed the wine from the rack, and one of the canvas grocery bags from the cabinet. Lorenzo’s was about a five block walk from the condo. It was almost 8 o’clock but for some reason it still seemed really bright outside. The air wasn’t as oppressive as it had been earlier; summers in Manhattan were getting worse and worse. 

There were still plenty of people walking around on the Upper West Side. Surprisingly, so few were paying attention to the two men holding hands. Rafael remembered when he couldn’t even do that in public. He couldn’t hold Trevor’s hand or be affectionate. He always felt as if the whole world was watching, judging, and that someone might be violent with him. 

Even in 2016, bad things still happened to same sex couples. He didn’t let that fear control him anymore. Instead of worrying that his relationship would be put into the ‘other’ category, Rafael felt so grateful to have the best man in the world. It was impossible to hide the love he had for him. He didn’t want to stick it in his pocket and only take it out for special occasions…he preferred to wear it like his favorite tie.

“You're smiling.” Trevor said. They were at a red light and Rafael was leaning a bit on the breaker box.

“I feel good.”

“You look good.”

“Don’t make me kiss you in front of all these people.” Rafael replied.

An older woman heard him say it. She looked at Rafael, looked at Trevor, and smiled. They smiled back. Some things did change with time. Trevor held Rafael’s hands to his lips as they crossed the street. He was as warm inside as he was outside. This was going to be a good evening.

***

“Babe, two things.”

“I'm listening.” Rafael looked up from his phone. 

He had checked his text messages to make sure nothing had come in about one of his current court cases. Then he took a moment to upload a picture of his meal to Instagram. He had chosen the sliced strip steak in lemon pepper penne. Lorenzo’s was the only place he’d ever found it. The steak was always tender; the meal always felt so good in his belly. May as well share it with the world and make them jealous.

“Don’t forget on Thursday we have our second appointment with Gayle. It’s at 6:30.”

“That’s impossible to forget.” Rafael mumbled. 

Gayle McNeal was an excellent therapist. She worked with couples and with married individuals trying to make themselves better. Trevor picked her because he knew that he and Rafael would be as comfortable around her as someone could be in couple’s therapy. There first session went well. Rafael behaved, and even managed to talk about some of the barriers he put up and fears he had. With Gayle it was always like a conversation…some therapy could feel like an interrogation. It didn’t when they went to her office.

“I'm just reminding you because we had to write out an assignment.” Trevor bit into his barbecue chicken white pizza. “We need to write our three best and worst traits and how they affect our relationships with others and between you and me.”

“I know, I've been working on it. I should be done by Thursday. All I can say is that it’s sure to be an interesting session.”

“I was glad that you opened up a bit in our first session. I was afraid that it would take at least until session 3 for you to say much.”

“Gayle makes the environment bearable. And I had to make myself remember we’re not going to couples therapy because our relationship is in trouble. We’re trying to start our marriage on the right foot and it’s a good idea. I had to shake some of my fear of the whole process and give it over to someone who knows more than I do.”

“Me?” Trevor asked.

“You went to Penn State, cuchura, you don’t know more than me.”

“You jackass.” Trevor leaned over and pinched him. “It was graduate school. See I have a graduate and law degree and you have….hmm…something is missing on your wall now that I think about it.”

“I have no graduate degree, I’ll admit that. But I have a bachelors and a law degree from Harvard University. Which is consistently the first or second best school in the nation and one of the top 20 schools in the world. Not that I like to brag.”

“Oh no, baby, you never ever brag about going to Harvard. I don’t recall that happening once in our relationship, never. You wouldn’t dream of ever doing such a thing.”

“You said you had to tell me two things.” Rafael smiled and ate a forkful of pasta. “Tell me the other thing before I disown you.”

“I think I found the perfect dog.” Trevor said.

“Really? When?”

“Last week I was helping some of the Rescue Mission staffers spice up the website and Facebook page. These days that’s what draws people in, being dazzled on the internet. Dogs and cats don’t just go there to live out their years, the goal is adoption and more space for animals to come and be safe. So while I was uploading pictures and bios, I found him. His name is Lieutenant Dan.”

“What a strange name for a dog.” Rafael made a face.

“Well he only has three legs. But he has a fourth prosthetic so they named him after the character in Forrest Gump. Remember that he lost his legs in the war? He's a mutt but there definitely husky in the mix somewhere, the coat, the shape of his ears, and his eyes. They aren’t that ocean blue but they are blue. He’s a boy, which is good since Blanche is a girl and younger dogs seem to get along better when they’re different sexes and not competing for the same space. He's four years old and weighs about 30 pounds.”

“And you already want him.”

“Yes.” Trevor smiled. “I thought it might be fun this weekend to take Blanche to the shelter and see how the two of them interact and play together. Lieutenant Dan is used to be being around other dogs but Blanche is the super star at home. We need to make sure that they get along well enough to thrive in our space together. An afternoon playing and introducing them is the perfect way to find out.”

“What if Blanche doesn’t like him?” Rafael asked, pouring more wine into his glass.

“Well there are degrees to how much she doesn’t like him. Spitting and hissing and fighting might mean we made the wrong dog choice. Accepting him living with us but not being keen on playing with him daily is acceptable for me. But I have a feeling she’ll enjoy him.”

“How do you know?”

“Because she’s a little diva who loves attention and Lieutenant Dan seems like the kind of dog who can read people and other animals well. He’ll be happy for the warm home and family, he won't mind that it comes along with deferring to a Frenchie.”

“So we’ll go to the shelter for a couple of hours on Saturday and bond with him?” Rafael asked.

“That was my plan, unless you already have something else going on that day.”

“Rita and I are having dinner but that won't be until later in the evening. I could be intoxicated when I come home…she loves to try to out scotch me. She's put me in my place the last few times; I've got to get my glory back, for Cuba.”

“Rafi, my love, you were born in Delaware.” Trevor said.

“Don’t say that so loud. I was only there for five months before coming to the South Bronx. It doesn’t even count.”

“I wasn’t aware about the not counting thing.”

“Well now you are. You have to live somewhere at least six months and one day for it to count.”

Rafael grinned. Trevor leaned over and kissed his grin. The bottle of wine was half gone and so were their meals. Trevor was sure he would be taking pizza home, he could never finish a whole one, even medium sized, and Lorenzo’s didn’t sell by the slice. So it could be a great breakfast in the morning or something to nibble on when the work day finally ended.

“Do you want to finish the bottle or cork it back up for home?” Trevor asked.

“I think we can finish it off.” Rafael replied. “Also, I wanna grab a pint of gelato to go.”

“Shall we Rochambeau for which flavor we want?”

“We can get two pints. Let's mix it up a bit.”

“I’ll be jogging two extra miles all week.” Trevor grumbled.

“And I’ll be thinking about jogging two extra miles all week but not doing it.” Rafael said. “I did discover in the gym not far from the office that they have a great set of row machines and I've come to love them. There's never a long line for them either so I just get in, play my music and pretend I’m out on the Charles River for a half hour. Its solitary and good exercise…I think I may have found my exercise calling.”

“I’ll grab the server for the boxes, check, and gelato.” Trevor held up his hand to get his attention.

***

“Mmm,” a chill went through Rafael as he swung his legs. “Happy.”

“Is it me or the gelato?” Trevor asked.

“Both. I would say 65% man, 35% gelato. OK, maybe 40% gelato.” He smiled and put his spoon into the pint of mango gelato.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“C'mere,” Rafael pulled Trevor close by his belt. “I wanna taste your lips.”

Trevor smiled as they kissed. They came home from their dinner out and got right to dessert. Rafael sat up on the kitchen counter and Trevor leaned against it. Grabbing spoons from the drawer, they dug in. Both made silent promises that they would only eat half a pint of gelato. They weren't as young as they used to be; dessert always took more work to get off than it did to get on.

“You taste like tiramisu.” Rafael opened his eyes and gave Trevor another kiss.

“That’s kinda the point. When we finish dessert we can walk the queen and then I want to have my way with you.”

Rafael put his gelato down on the counter, wrapping his arms around Trevor’s neck. He liked where this conversation was going.

“You can have your way with me and then we can walk the dog.”

“No dice,” Trevor shook his head. “You're going to be too wiped out afterward.”

“Seriously?” the ADA raised an eyebrow.

“I'm very serious. This is my super serious face.”

“Well what are we waiting for?” he snuck in one more spoonful of mango gelato. “We’ll walk a couple of blocks to warm up and then get right to the finals of the sex Olympics.”

“You are so strange.” Trevor laughed.

“I'm in love with you, Trevor Langan. I'm in lust with you, in awe of you; I am everything for you.”

“I bought you a ball gag.” He leaned to whisper it in Rafael’s ear. He immediately felt his fiancé’s body respond. Wow, he didn’t think that Rafael had ever gotten so hard so fast.

“Are you kidding me?” Rafael looked at him with wide green eyes.

“I wouldn’t joke about such a thing.”

“OK, we gotta walk the dog right now.”

He jumped down from the counter, closed up all the gelato and put it in the freezer. Trevor couldn’t help but laugh as he power walked into the bedroom to get Blanche from her cage. He had been planning on surprising Rafael, not pulling out the ball gag until their wedding night. He knew his man enjoyed a little pain and domination with his pleasure and Trevor didn’t mind going a bit left of vanilla when the situation called for it. 

They weren't quite on the same level with that kind of sex but Rafael was never unsatisfied in bed. Trevor was excited to add something new to his repertoire. He wanted to get Rafael hot and bothered in the best way. He smiled when Rafael returned with Blanche, wearing her yellow knitted skully cap with the holes for her pointy ears.

“I'm ready.” Rafael grinned and stood at attention.

“I just bet you are, Barba.” Trevor laughed, holding out his hand. “Off we go.”

***


End file.
